


Rescue

by Zdenka



Category: Die Zauberflöte | The Magic Flute - Mozart/Schikaneder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 09:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22967374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka
Summary: Pamina is given a portrait and sets out to rescue a prince.
Relationships: Pamina/Tamino (Die Zauberflöte)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9
Collections: Purimgifts 2020





	Rescue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jonphaedrus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jonphaedrus/gifts).



One of her mother’s ladies comes to summon Pamina and tells her that her mother the Queen wishes to see her. Her mother’s ladies vary in their appearance: taller or shorter, their hair or their faces of different shades, but they all carry themselves proudly and have fierce eyes. They dress in black, with black cloaks, and carry gleaming spears. They give up their names when they join the Queen’s service and answer only to a number that represents the order of their joining. The Queen trusts them, as much as she trusts anyone. Pamina has heard others at court say they are frightening, but she has never been afraid of them. She grew up with them from childhood, and she knows they obey only her mother’s word, aim the points of their spears only where her mother sees an enemy.

It is the Third Lady who has come for her. Pamina thanks her and goes to obey the summons at once; the Queen does not like to be kept waiting.

The Queen is standing in the garden, among purple flowers made darker by the night. Leaves rustle overhead in the night breeze; above them, the sky is a dark dome spanned with the glittering silver light of the stars. Pamina tilts her head back to look at them.

“Pamina, come,” her mother calls, with a hint of impatience, and Pamina hastens to her side.

“I am here, mother.”

The Queen holds out a small object to Pamina: a hinged golden case, oval in shape. Pamina takes it curiously. She looks at her mother for instructions.

“Open it,” the Queen says, a slight smile curving her lips.

Pamina does. Inside is a portrait of a young man. He is dark-haired and very beautiful. His lips are slightly parted; she thinks he looks earnest and kind. It gives her a warm and sweet feeling to look at him. Pamina thinks she would like to meet him, if she could. “Mother, who is this?” she asks, without taking her eyes from the portrait.

“His name is Tamino, and he is a prince from a foreign land.”

 _Tamino_ , Pamina repeats silently.

“He is brave and steadfast, but he is in grave danger.” Pamina looks up swiftly at that.

Her mother nods. “In his innocence, the young man has wandered into the realm of Sarastro.”

Pamina catches her breath. She does not know much of Sarastro, but her mother’s lip curls with disdain whenever she speaks of him, and her brows darken with anger. She knows Sarastro is their enemy.

“Sarastro will attempt to delude the young man’s mind with his false teachings, and if he cannot succeed, he will hold him prisoner until the young man gives in.”

Pamina grips the portrait tighter. “Cannot he be rescued, mother?”

“He can and shall be,” the Queen says swiftly. “This is the quest I am giving you, my daughter: go to Sarastro’s city and save the unfortunate young man. I believe he will be of great help to us, if he can be saved.”

“I will save him,” Pamina vows, with sudden determination.

The Queen gives her a look of approval. “Yet be careful, my daughter. I will aid you as much as I can, but once you enter Sarastro’s lands, there are many who would betray you to him, for reward or out of zeal. Sarastro has many fervent followers in his temple, who believe—or pretend to believe—in his teachings. They teach that women are weak, and that we are cunning temptresses who seduce men to evil; that we have not the wit to guide our own course, but we must submit to a man’s guidance and wisdom.” Her eyes flash with scorn. “As for the common people of his realm, they are dazzled by Sarastro’s enchantments and worship him as a god. Sarastro has many slaves as well, who obey him out of fear, under threat of cruel punishments. If you fall into Sarastro’s power, even I may be powerless to save you.”

“I understand, mother,” Pamina says softly. “I will be careful.”

“That is well.” The Queen draws a dagger from her belt. “Take this also, my daughter.” Her voice is cold. “It has been sharpened for Sarastro’s heart. If you see an opportunity, if he allows you to come near enough, you will strike.”

Pamina hesitates. She has no doubt that Sarastro is evil and cruel. But to kill someone, to strike at an unsuspecting person—

The Queen pushes the dagger’s hilt into her hands. “Take it,” she commands. “And if you have a chance to kill Sarastro, do not hesitate. He will not have mercy on you.” She turns. “You will leave tomorrow.”

Pamina bows. “Mother, do not fear,” she says earnestly. “I will save this young man, I swear it.”

Early the next day, when the stars are growing pale, Pamina wraps herself in her travelling cloak. She takes only enough food for a journey, the dagger her mother gave her, and her own spear, with a point that gleams silver like one of her mother’s stars—and the portrait of Tamino, tucked away carefully in her pack. She looks up once more at the sky of her mother’s kingdom, and then she sets out to rescue a prince.

**Author's Note:**

> Image Credit:
> 
> Edited from a detail of an oil painting by an unknown artist c. 1800, depicting a neoclassical allegory of uncertain meaning. Image from Wikimedia Commons.


End file.
